SOAP BOX

So thanks to some friends on the block, Jay and I have recently gotten neck deep into Game of Thrones. I finished seasons one through three in about a week before season four started. Jay started season one and completely caught up in about three or four days. I'm even reading the books now! I'm halfway through the third book "A Storm of Swords". Needless to say, we're hooked.

Well, we decided since we like GoT so much and since it's such a big thing in Pop Culture right now that we might as well share how we're feeling on an episode to episode basis. So consider this the start to our weekly Game of Thrones episode discussion. We're starting three and a half seasons too late, but who cares?

With the duel between Oberyn Martell and Gregor Clegane looming, episode 8 of season 4 was appropriately titled "The Mountain and The Viper". We would finally get to see the two foes square off to prove Tyrion's innocence. Of course, to heighten the tension, we would have to wait until there's only ten minutes left in the episode. The other 50 minutes were not disappointing though!

We saw some character development from Sansa Stark. Her relationship with Littlefinger seems to be growing into something dangerous. I hope they turn into a "power couple" of sorts and get revenge on the people who've hurt them. We saw another almost reunion get ruined when The Hound and Arya discover that Lysa Arryn is dead. I thought we'd finally see the Stark sisters get back to each other, but why would there be a good ending in GoT, right? We also got to see some interesting moves being made in the North. The bastard (literally and figuratively) Ramsay Snow defeated the forces holding Moat Cailin and now Roose Bolton holds all the land in the North. I can't see this faring well for anyone. Roose is the man that betrayed Robb and Catelyn Stark, and Ramsay is the crazy MFer that tortures people for fun. I hope they don't hold the power up there for long. Speaking of the North, Jon Snow and the Night's Watch are getting ready for battle with the Wildlings. It's make or break time for them, for sure! Maybe the most intense and most heartbreaking moment, aside from the episode ending fight scene, was when Daenerys and Jorah had their confrontation over Jorah's allegiance. Definitely a bummer to see them separated, but I don't think it'll be the end of Jorah. Definitely a lot to fit into this episode, but we saw a lot of pieces coming together in a lot of places.

But we were all really waiting for the Trial By Combat and it didn't disappoint. Unless of course you wanted to see The Mountain be killed by Oberyn. Then it definitely disappointed. But again, this is GoT. I can't say I was expecting a truly happy ending, but I did expect something slightly less brutal. The most disappointing part was that Oberyn apparently had it in the bag! Then he blew it. I understand he wanted vengeance, he wanted The Mountain to confess and he wanted justice; but Tyrion already told him, "If you're looking for justice you've come to the wrong place." I hated the smug look on Tywin and Cersei's faces as they got what they wanted out of the fight. I don't think this is the end of Tyrion, but he's definitely staring down the end of his rope.

So what did you guys think? Is this the end of Tyrion? Will Jaime help him out of yet another life or death situation? What's going on between Littlefinger and Sansa? Where will The Hound and Arya go? If you've read the books and want to comment, please do us and other readers the kindness of not posting spoilers. Keep it about the show and we're good! Stay tuned for next week's episode and we'll see y'all down at the shop!